Host Jason Blitman talks to author Kate Fagan (The Three Lives of Cate Kay) about the intricacies of her novel, touching on themes of identity, ambition, the complexity of human relationships, and the many lives we live. Jason is then joined by guest gay reader Kathryn Budig who shares her current reads and insights from her own literary journey, including details about her imprint, Inky Phoenix, and its inaugural publication, Strange Beasts. The Three Lives of Cate Kay is the January 2025 Reese's Book Club pick, Target Book Club pick, and a Book of the Month selection. Kate Fagan is an Emmy Award–winning journalist and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of What Made Maddy Run, which was a semi-finalist for the PEN/ESPN Award for literary sports writing. She is also the author of three additional nonfiction titles, a former professional basketball player, and spent seven years as a journalist at ESPN. Kate currently lives in Charleston with her wife, Kathryn Budig, and their dog, Ragnar. Kathryn Budig is an internationally celebrated yoga teacher, author, and founder of the online community Haus of Phoenix and The Inky Phoenix book club, with nearly half a million followers on Instagram and Facebook. She’s known for curating magical realism, historical fiction, and dark fantasy with a focus on LGBTQ+ and BIPOC themes and authors. In 2023, she founded Inky Phoenix Press in partnership with Bindery Books, where she has a thriving membership community. Budig is the co-host of the Webby Award-nominated podcast Free Cookies, was the yoga editor to Women’s Health magazine for five years, and author of both The Women’s Health Big Book of Yoga, and the bestselling Aim True. She lives in Charleston, SC with her wife, Kate Fagan, and their dog, Ragnar. BOOK CLUB! Use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping! Restrictions apply. http://aardvarkbookclub.com WATCH! https://youtube.com/@gaysreading BOOKS! Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading MERCH! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE! https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/ FOLLOW! @gaysreading | @jasonblitman CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

Host Jason Blitman kicks off Gays Reading season four with special guests from the Book Riot Podcast, Jeff O'Neal and Rebecca Schinsky. They join forces to discuss their most anticipated books of 2025, covering a wide range of genres and highlighting some exciting upcoming releases. Later, Jason chats with Brad Summerville, aka @bradboughtabook on Bookstagram, about his top queer book picks for the year. Jeff O'Neal is the executive editor of Book Riot and Panels. He also co-hosts The Book Riot Podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @thejeffoneal. Rebecca Schinsky is the executive director of product and ecommerce at Riot New Media Group. She co-hosts All the Books! and the Book Riot Podcast. Follow her on Twitter: @rebeccaschinsky. BOOK CLUB! Use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping! Restrictions apply. http://aardvarkbookclub.com WATCH! https://youtube.com/@GaysReading BOOKS! Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading MERCH! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE! https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/ FOLLOW! @gaysreading | @jasonblitman CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

In the season finale of Gays Reading, host Jason Blitman sits down with Ann Patchett to discuss the annotated edition of her acclaimed novel Bel Canto. They explore the power of memory, the key to learning and appreciating opera, and much more. Ann shares stories about meeting Jim Parsons at Our Town on Broadway, attending the only baseball game of her life, and what she would say to her younger self who wrote Bel Canto. Tune in for Ann’s holiday book recommendations and Jason’s most memorable reads of the year. Ann Patchett is the author of novels, most recently the #1 New York Times bestselling Tom Lake, works of nonfiction, and children's books. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the PEN/Faulkner, the Women's Prize for Fiction in the UK, and the Book Sense Book of the Year. Her novel The Dutch House was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages, and Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. President Biden awarded her the National Humanities Medal in recognition of her contributions to American culture. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the owner of Parnassus Books. BOOK CLUB! Use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping! Restrictions apply. http://aardvarkbookclub.com WATCH! https://youtube.com/@GaysReading BOOKS! Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading MERCH! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE! https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/ FOLLOW! @gaysreading | @jasonblitman CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

In this bonus episode of What's the TEA? host Jason Blitman talks to Hannah Silva about the exploration of queer single parenting and AI in her book, My Child, The Algorithm as well as Tom Pyun about his debut novel, Something Close to Nothing. What's the TEA? gets the inside scoop on new books–authors are tasked with describing their books with 3 words using the letters T, E, and A. Hannah Silva is a writer and performer working in sound poetry, radio and experimental non-fiction. An Artificially Intelligent Guide to Love (BBC Radio 4) starred Fiona Shaw and was the starting point for My Child, the Algorithm. Silva has authored seven other plays for BBC Radio 3 and 4, winning the Tinniswood Award and numerous placements in the BBC Audio Drama Awards. Her debut poetry collection Forms of Protest was Highly Commended in the Forward Prizes. Talk in a bit, a record of sound poetry and music was in the Wire’s Top 25 albums of 2018. She lives in London with her child. Tom Pyun earned his MFA at Antioch University Los Angeles and has been awarded fellowships by the Vermont Studio Center, VONA, and Tin House. His creative fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Rumpus, Reed Magazine, Joyland, and Blue Mesa Review. His essay, “Mothers Always Know,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net 2015. BOOK CLUB! Use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping! Restrictions apply. http://aardvarkbookclub.com WATCH! https://youtube.com/@GaysReading BOOKS! Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading MERCH! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE! https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/ FOLLOW! @gaysreading | @jasonblitman CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

In this new series What’s the TEA? host Jason Blitman gets the inside scoop on new books–authors are tasked with describing their books with 3 words using the letters T, E, and A. This episode features Daniel Aleman talking to Jason about his new book, I Might Be in Trouble. Daniel Aleman is the award-winning author of Indivisible and Brighter Than the Sun. Born and raised in Mexico City, he now lives in Toronto, where he is on a never-ending search for the best tacos in the city. I Might Be in Trouble is his adult debut. BOOK CLUB! Use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping! Restrictions apply. http://aardvarkbookclub.com WATCH! https://youtube.com/@GaysReading BOOKS! Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading MERCH! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE! https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/ FOLLOW! @gaysreading | @jasonblitman CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

Host Jason Blitman talks to author Weike Wang (Rental House) about her dream vacation, the commonality of in-laws, and their mutual love of House Hunters. Jason is then joined by Guest Gay Reader, Joseph Lezza, who talks about what he's reading and shares insights about how he navigates grief during the holiday season. Weike Wang is a graduate of Harvard University, where she earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry and her doctorate in public health. She received her MFA from Boston University. Her fiction has been published in literary magazines, including Alaska Quarterly Review, Glimmer Train, and Ploughshares, which also named Chemistry the winner of its John C. Zacharis Award. A “5 Under 35” honoree of the National Book Foundation, Weike currently lives in New York City. Joseph Lezza is a writer in New York, NY. Holding an MFA in creative writing from The University of Texas at El Paso, he is a 2021 finalist for the Prize Americana in Prose. His work has been featured in, among others, Occulum, Variant Literature, The Hopper, Stoneboat Literary Journal, West Trade Review, and Santa Fe Writers Project. His debut memoir in essays, I’m Never Fine: Scenes and Spasms on Loss, is out February 2023 from Vine Leaves Press. BOOK CLUB! Use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping! Restrictions apply. http://aardvarkbookclub.com WATCH! https://youtube.com/@GaysReading BOOKS! Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading MERCH! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE! https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/ FOLLOW! @gaysreading | @jasonblitman CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

Host Jason Blitman is joined by Susan Rieger (Like Mother, Like Mother) to record together at the Penguin Random House offices. They explore the idea of "Elephant Memories," a podcast within the book, as they share personal stories of early memories and family. Like Mother, Like Mother is an Aardvark Book Club selection (use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping!) as well as Barnes and Nobles' November and December 2024 Book Club. Susan Rieger is a graduate of Columbia Law School. She has worked as a residential college dean at Yale and as an associate provost at Columbia. She has taught law to undergraduates at both schools and written frequently about the law for newspapers and magazines. She is the author of The Heirs and The Divorce Papers. She lives in New York City with her husband. BOOK CLUB! Use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping! Restrictions apply. http://aardvarkbookclub.com WATCH! https://youtube.com/@GaysReading BOOKS! Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading MERCH! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE! https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/ FOLLOW! @gaysreading | @jasonblitman CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

Host Jason Blitman talks to Christopher Bollen (Havoc) about everything from purging personal belongings to the layered concept of havoc and chaos, the fascinating world of hotels, and Chris' love-hate relationship with musicals. Jason is then joined by Guest Gay Reader Simon Doonan (TV's Making It, The Camp 100) about what he's reading, as well as the difference between Camp and campy. Christopher Bollen is the author of the critically acclaimed novels The Lost Americans, A Beautiful Crime, The Destroyers, Orient, and Lightning People. He is a frequent contributor to a number of publications, including Vanity Fair, the New York Times, and Interview. He lives in New York City. Simon Doonan is the author of many books, including the recently published Transformer: A Story of Glitter, Glam Rock and Loving Lou Reed, How To Be Yourself, DRAG: The Complete Story and Keith Haring. A long-standing member of the fashion community, Simon was awarded the prestigious CFDA award for his work as Creative Director for Barneys New York. He is currently a judge on the Emmy-nominated NBC series ‘Making It’. Simon lives in New York City with his partner, the ceramicist and designer Jonathan Adler, and their rescue-mutt Foxylady. BOOK CLUB! Use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping! Restrictions apply. http://aardvarkbookclub.com WATCH! https://youtube.com/@GaysReading BOOKS! Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading MERCH! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE! https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/ FOLLOW! @gaysreading | @jasonblitman CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com